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Post by bellboard27 on Aug 3, 2016 9:50:54 GMT
I just fancy being able legitimately to go up to the box office and say "kiss me downstairs please".
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Post by bellboard27 on Aug 3, 2016 9:47:01 GMT
Well I was going to skip this, but you've all persuaded me to give it a go. Grabbed a £10 seat at the end of row E - not many of those left! Ha! One of the only four seats which bellboard27 tells us may have restricted views! I suppose this was the closest you could find to sitting behind a pillar? It depends which side of the stage you are on - if it's the side with the corners, I've no idea. On the straight side, the issue is not pillars, just being just beyond the end of the glass box set, but as I said, it's not much of an issue.
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Post by bellboard27 on Aug 3, 2016 9:29:58 GMT
Do we think this could transfer to the Phoenix? I hear Lin-Manuel Miranda is knocking off some songs to beef it up for the WE.
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Post by bellboard27 on Aug 3, 2016 9:15:26 GMT
I enjoyed this. Gina McKee was great, but more me Ron Cook stole the show. Stephen Dillane's first outing was good, but I felt there was something odd in his second appearance - he seemed to run out of steam leading to an oddly weak end. Overall, though, a positive outing.
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Post by bellboard27 on Aug 3, 2016 9:02:59 GMT
Saw this last night. I won't repeat Foxa's excellent summing up, except to say that this running time was down to 1 hour 40 mins (after curtain calls we were out by 9.15 and it did start a couple of minutes late).
Totally concur with DutchessConstance on Billie Piper's performance. £10 well spent!
On seating, I was downstairs on the side with straight seating (other side has the corners). All seats seem to have good views except possibly the very extreme ends of rows E and F (but even then 99% of it would be clear).
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Post by bellboard27 on Aug 2, 2016 15:49:11 GMT
Too much of a binge does take its toll. A couple of years ago I ended up at 45 shows in a month (while still going to work!). I'm not sure I want to do that again!
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Post by bellboard27 on Aug 2, 2016 10:13:51 GMT
Well the ATG website is still selling tickets for the original run - I just test tried a booking for next January and it is still going through.
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Post by bellboard27 on Aug 1, 2016 15:26:25 GMT
Is this the production where a white actor is playing the role of Lola? Seems to be so: Oscar Pierrou Lindén as Lola.
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Post by bellboard27 on Aug 1, 2016 13:05:44 GMT
Have I been in an alternate universe or did this theatre do this play with basically the same poster within the last couple of years? It's a bit further back than that - in 2009 and I saw it then. Anna Friel starring. There was a bit of a stir cos of the on stage nudity. It got Charles Spencer going - "the sexiest performance I have seen on stage since Nicole Kidman in The Blue Room". So one satisfied customer!
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Post by bellboard27 on Aug 1, 2016 12:58:47 GMT
Malmo Opera is putting on Kinky Boots in Swedish running from September to December, overlapping in rep from November with the Marriage of Figaro. I've booked to go fairly early in the run. Will be interested to see how this pans out. "Charlie från Northampton, träffa Simon från Clacton".
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Post by bellboard27 on Aug 1, 2016 11:34:44 GMT
According to the BBC review of the critics, the play script has left some critics unsatisfied because it is not fleshed out like a novel but is ..err.. a play script.
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Post by bellboard27 on Jul 29, 2016 16:13:11 GMT
42% actually believed that human beings used to ride around on dinosaurs My diplodocus has over 1.5m miles on the clock, and I'm not part-exchanging it for anything. I'll give you part exchange on a nice zippy little velocirapator. Only one previous owner (although no one knows what happened to him!).
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Post by bellboard27 on Jul 28, 2016 18:24:16 GMT
Best to colour that seat red straightaway, I feel ... Some people pay good money for this.
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Post by bellboard27 on Jul 9, 2016 15:42:45 GMT
I had to mullet over but I fin-ally got my £10 ticket from the ofishal site.
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Post by bellboard27 on Jul 8, 2016 13:55:00 GMT
People who don't actually get up to let you by, and instead do some half-hearted knee-clench which only releases about half an inch of additional space for you to squeeze through. JUST STAND UP. I quite like crawling over people to get to my seat. I find all the body contact adds a certain spice before the curtain goes up and is something to think about if the show is bad.
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Post by bellboard27 on Jul 5, 2016 11:14:56 GMT
Some of the very best shows I've seen have been thanks to discounts and papering. It should not be used as an indicator of quality, only ever an indicator of not selling very well. Bend it bend it Parsley, I keep following your advice to bend it. Now it's getting sore. I think I will have to stop.
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Post by bellboard27 on Jul 2, 2016 23:18:39 GMT
Agreed - not a great production. Too stripped back for me. The second half was particularly boring. However quite a few of the audience seemed to like it.
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Post by bellboard27 on Jul 1, 2016 10:13:31 GMT
I can recall being one of six people in the audience for Let The Right One In at the Apollo once. It was not that bad when I went to LTROI, but I remember only stalls being open and my seat being bumped up. Sitting there at about 7.25pm there was only about 2-3 of us and I thought there was a serious problem. However, I had forgotten the start time was not 7.30, so more did roll up by the 7.45 start time!
Of course, fringe theatre can have terrible audience numbers. I once went to quite a good production of Hamlet where the cast significantly outnumbered the audience (about 7-8 of us) and several of the audience turned out to be family and friends of the cast!
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Post by bellboard27 on Jun 30, 2016 22:47:22 GMT
Agreed. Great so far - bring on tomorrow!
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Post by bellboard27 on Jun 29, 2016 11:35:35 GMT
And: Eve Standard: 4 stars WOS: 4 stars
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Post by bellboard27 on Jun 29, 2016 10:46:46 GMT
I'm floored by the reactions so far. I don't believe you - I think it is just a veneer.
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Post by bellboard27 on Jun 29, 2016 10:42:26 GMT
Please everyone. Try and be a bit more lignified when posting here.
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Post by bellboard27 on Jun 29, 2016 9:36:40 GMT
Two more in:
The Stage (MS): 5 stars Daily Mail (QL): 3 stars
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Post by bellboard27 on Jun 27, 2016 18:32:05 GMT
Foolish usher at the National tried to stop a woman taking a very small bag into the theatre, on the grounds it was a "backpack" - in as much as she had a shoulder strap. She protested it was her handbag, and eventually he let her in. OK, but here's the good one. Actually on my way back to Waterloo station, but I'm SO glad it happened... Crowded pavement, but folk started to scatter a bit... I could see a wheelchair coming towards me, and weaving all over the place - hence the nimble avoiding moves... ... as the chair got closer, I could see the occupant. An attractive young lady... ... chair wheel in one hand... ... Using her mobile phone with the other!!!!!! I absolutely love it. A real triumph for Equality. Negotiating a busy London pavement while on your phone and without consideration for other people is now, officially AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES event. Ain't the 21st century wonderful?! I took a carrier bag to the National to put my small back pack in. Box office staff approved! Door staff quite happy. I refuse to have to queue afterwards and miss my train (esp the long queues at the Dorfmann).
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Post by bellboard27 on Jun 27, 2016 12:56:55 GMT
I'm afraid the most appropriate is likely to be "The Long and Winding Road", in an extended version with several reprises.
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Post by bellboard27 on Jun 27, 2016 12:26:15 GMT
Late to the party, but yesterday's Sunday Express gave this 2 stars (Daily Express had given it 5 stars).
"Its creators attempt to flesh out the two dimensional characters by adding a dismal combination of schmaltz and camp. Too arch for children and too trite for adults, it is hard to see at whom this slick, cynical show is aimed."
"The phoniness of the exercise is underlined by the fact that although the cast list their birthplaces as Middlesbrough, Bolton and Orpington, they adopt mid-Atlantic accents. That said, the most irksomely ingratiating performance comes from the one genuine American, Trevor Dion Nicholas as the Genie. Apart from the cost of the sets and the cost of the seats, there is nothing to distinguish this."
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Post by bellboard27 on Jun 21, 2016 15:54:36 GMT
The "Carre d'Or" (Golden Quarter) is generally what Premium Seats are here. My guess is that those "Prestige" packages are more aimed at the gentlemen taking their mistresses or even wives out or some business partners. I've never been at the Mogador as it's owned by Stage Entertainment who use it to recycle the same shows that are done all over Europe, but judging by the photos it's a nice theatre. And obviously it will have a stage door, where else would performers and crews enter. If you want to ask for it, it's "L'entrée des artistes". One thing you should be aware of in Paris is that ushers expect a tip. When entering the auditorium you will be led to your seats and 1 Euro (per person) is expected as a thank you. If you don't cough up, you'll get pretty rude stares, so have a coin or two ready. It's one of the big mysteries in Parisian theatres but as they say "when in Rome..." That's so funny about the ushers. Thank you so much for the tour link (and everything else)- I see it doesn't book until Dec. though I looked at the pictures again- it doesn't look that big, but I do think I'll treat myself to a nice seat upfront for 90 eur. Do you have any tips for the Garnier? i'm thinking of maybe seeing an opera or a ballet there too (to complete the phantom trip ha) and I see they have tickets for 40 eur and under- have you ever been?
If you are interested you can do a good self-guided tour of Opera Garnier. It is a stunning theatre, so well worth spending time wandering around. You do get a chance to peer into the Phantom's box (not enter it!).
If you do want to go to a ballet or opera, tickets do go and booking in advance is advisable (earlier the better depending on how popular the show is), especially if you want to snap up the cheaper tickets. For example, it is already booking into December, but not yet for Christmas at the Bastille (the site covers both Garnier and Bastille).
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Post by bellboard27 on Jun 21, 2016 15:43:20 GMT
It is difficult trying to second guess someone else's taste! Just some comments:
Groundhog day first night is 15 July, which is the last day of you trip - so no one will know if it is any good before then. Also I just checked at the 15 and 16th are 'not currently available' for booking.
The Mousetrap (as someone said elsewhere on this board) is a museum piece. If you want a piece of theatre history, fine. Otherwise don't worry. In any case I would get day seats on the day - it's the only discount and there's never a problem getting them
The RIII lottery - fine, but the only problem with the lottery is (in this case) you won't know you've got a ticket or not till 4pm. This might not be great for planning (when you find you are unsuccessful).
I agree about In the Heights, but it depends if you want to see something new. You mentioned Show Boat. If you have not seen it, it is worth catching. After all it is am important part of the history of the development of musicals and is well done. I think you might get a good ticket at a reasonable price.
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Post by bellboard27 on Jun 20, 2016 11:22:29 GMT
Bet there'll be issues with all the rustling of Scooby snacks in the audience!
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Post by bellboard27 on Jun 19, 2016 0:24:32 GMT
Waiting for a show (not Aladdin) to start the other day, there was a guy complaining about Aladdin that not enough money had been spent on it (Disney after all). In particular, he complained that the opportunity had not be taken to turn the auditorium into Aladdin's cave for the audience to sit it!
That got me thinking. I think Miss Saigon went amiss by not transforming the entire auditorium into a Saigon brothel. FOH: "please leave that condom alone, Madam, it's part of the decoration".
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